My queen had accomplished much on this trip. She had taken her first sib, gained an ancient, proud court, and added two new Blood in the process. These men weren't lightweights, either. They weren't as old as Guillaume, nor as famous in Aima circles, but they brought new gifts to my queen that I knew without a doubt she'd need in this fight against Skye.

Though I might have to smash their heads together on occasion, which was far from a hardship. Or maybe I'd just pair them up with Mehen and Ezra. That would be hilarious.

Shara's power had already been so immense that adding Mayte and her court was like a drop in the ocean. But Zaniyah brought more than raw power to my queen. She brought a solid foundation and generations of experience, laid out like a feast for my queen to draw on at will.

Even more, Mayte brought a tenderness to my queen that we Blood could not give her, though we tried as often as possible. Many of us were predators. Aggressive males. While we could be tender on occasion, and I handled my queen as gently as possible, I could never compare to the soft, light touch of a woman.

My queen had grown up without many soft and pretty things. She'd grown up in a tower bedroom with no windows, because she feared the monsters outside. She'd never had a nest or a community of Aima to teach her our ways. Even the woman who'd raised her had struggled at times to balance her role in raising a powerful queen outside of any nest, with no protection, while under her sister's geas. Shara had said many times that her mother wasn't the same after her human lover died.

For my queen, that meant she had often felt alone. She hadn't had the warm, soft hug of her mother, or another family member.

So it was no wonder that she craved another queen's soft touch. She wanted laughter and tenderness and sweetness, and I would be no alpha if I didn't ensure my queen received exactly what she wanted. The only problem was my queen's potentially prickly pride. She wanted Mayte. But she didn't want Mayte's Blood, and she definitely didn't want any of us to touch the other woman. My queen was a jealous queen, which I loved. I didn't want to touch another, even though it would be more difficult to arrange her lovers to best meet her needs while remaining within her comfort zone.

Still on my queen's lap, Mayte nuzzled her ear playfully. "I have a place I'd like to show you."

Shara melted at the soft light shining in the other woman's eyes. "Then lead the way."

Mayte stood and offered her hand. My queen stood and winced, which put me on high alert. "These shoes weren't the best idea."

Mayte frowned. "We do need to walk a ways, but it's not far. Fifteen, maybe twenty minutes."

Worry nagged inside her. "Is this place you want to show me outside your nest?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

She turned to me as I stood. "Do you think it'll be safe?"

I cast my alpha senses out into the night, seeking anything amiss. Now that my queen had claimed Mayte as her own, the nest responded to her magic, and thus to me, with my queen's blood flowing in my bond. I sensed nothing out of place, but I wasn't familiar with this countryside. "Do you have many thralls in the area?"

Eztli snorted with disgust. "As if we'd allow any thralls to come within sniffing distance of our queen."

Shara leveled a hard look at him, which made him swallow and his eyes widen. "I trust my Blood's protection one-hundred percent, and we still have to deal with thralls. They follow me everywhere I go. They've hunted me my entire life and I almost died more times than I care to count."

He inclined his head slightly. "Forgive me, my queen, I had no idea. With your nine Blood and my queen's five, I highly doubt even a pack of thralls would dare come within a hundred miles of two powerful queens."

"What about Ra," she asked softly.

"The Egyptian god of the sun?” Mayte asked. “What does he have to do with you?"

"He attacked us in Kansas City before I established my nest. Does your religion have an equivalent aspect of the god?"

Mayte moved closer to Tepeyollotl, though she still held my queen's hand. "Of course. An entire pyramid was dedicated to Huitzilopochtil in Tenochtitlan, but he was never associated with Ra. Thousands of people were sacrificed to him before Tenochtitlan fell."

I felt her alpha searching the night now, too. He commanded three of her Blood to shift to their jaguar forms and they slipped into the night, silent hunters in search of anything out of place. "If there's anyone nearby, we'll know. I think it's safe enough to go to the grotto. Even Huitzilopochtil’s power is weaker at night."

Shara gripped my arm and lifted her left foot, tugging on the strap of her shoe. Since Daire had picked them out for her to wear, he quickly stepped in and helped her remove them. She wriggled her toes against the tile and slipped her arm back through mine. "Should I change out of the dress too?"

Mayte glanced at her sideways through lowered lashes. "We can bathe at the grotto. I often take a dip and then walk back to the house naked. Unless nudity bothers you?"

"Not at all."

With her arm laced in mine and her other hand in Mayte's, we walked down a path lined with flat stones toward a line of trees. As we passed through the nest's boundary, Shara shivered and rubbed her arms. "That reminds me. Do I need to give your nest my blood too?"

"I don't know," Mayte admitted. "Bianca and Grandmama didn't know either."

Guillaume answered over his shoulder. "No, it's not necessary, unless you want to do it, my queen. Her blood is now your blood, so her boundary is now yours. If I may make a recommendation..."

"Of course, please."

"When we leave, you can add a small amount of blood to the boundary, which will reinforce and strengthen it. But there's no need for you to retrace the entire nest as we did in Eureka Springs."

"Good," Shara breathed out a deep sigh. "If I'm going to bleed that much, I'd rather give it to all of you rather than the ground. Though if I need to make that sacrifice, I'm willing."

I smelled water and sulfur before we reached the trees. The path steepened, cutting back and forth briefly to dip into a rocky canyon. The flagstones had been laid hundreds of years ago and had been ground smooth by time. Trees crowded in, giving the canyon a tight, dark feeling of safety and privacy from prying eyes. I sent all her Blood, including the two new ones, to guard positions in a ring around the grotto. Eztli did the same, though he did not command the father of his queen’s child to leave her side.

:Since she has two with her, do you want to choose another to join us?: I asked in her bond. :Or do you want to invite both twins?:

:I think inviting her brothers would be icky. I'm not even sure I want to invite them both at the same time. Which would you prefer?:

I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed her knuckles. :Whatever you wish, my queen.:

:Then I want only you with me tonight.:

Love surged through me so powerfully that I could only nod, not trusting even my mental voice in the bond.

"The water smells of minerals, but it's nature's hot tub." Mayte turned to smile at my queen. "There's a spring a bit further up in the cave, but the water's so hot that it's not really comfortable. I usually use this pool. It's still warm, but it's deeper and the submerged rocks give plenty of places to sit."

Shara looked around at the deep pool, easily ten feet across, and grinned. "This is fantastic. Too bad we don't have a hot spring at home. I've asked Gina to find me the biggest tub she can, but a natural spring would be even better."

Deep inside me, I felt a whisper of magic, as if my queen's words whisked off into the night, her intention spoken aloud made manifest in her magic. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if we returned to her nest and found her very own grotto among the trees she'd grown with her blood.

Mayte turned, giving her back to her alpha. He immediately unzipped her gown. She let the material flutter to the rocks, and the same as my queen, she wore nothing underneath.

Staring at her body, I could admit that she was attractive. Shorter than my queen and curvy, her breasts full and heavy, her stomach gently rounded from having a child. But she did not move me. I could look at her like she was a priceless statue and admire the craftsmanship, but not covet her body as a man.

How could I, when I loved my very own goddess?

I turned my gaze to Shara, and my dick swelled even more, pushing against the fabric of my pants. Her eyes glowed as she looked at the other woman. Her lips parted on a soft sigh. Her nipples hardened and I could smell her desire. To me, that was everything beautiful and priceless in the world. My queen wanted. My queen needed. And she would receive exactly what she needed.

I unzipped her dress and helped her work the tighter-fitting gown down her body. She had to shimmy her hips to get the dress to slip down her thighs. Watching as my queen undressed, Mayte unbraided her hair so it fell in loose waves about her shoulders. Mirroring her, Shara took the pins out of hair and handed them to me one by one, letting her hair cascade down her back. Her hair was much longer than Mayte's and darker, heavier.

Holding out her hand to Shara, Mayte stepped closer to the pool. Two gorgeous Aima queens slowly stepped into the water and time seemed to stop and roll backwards, thousands and thousands of years, so that it was two young goddesses laughing and playing in the water. Isis and Coatlicue, two goddesses who never would have interacted in this world. Now here, splashing each other, laughing, and then shyly reaching out to touch the other. Mayte pressed a soft kiss to my queen's lips, and Shara sighed, her hand gliding down the other woman's back. Then she turned to me, her eyes glowing like jewels. "Join us."

I stripped off my clothes, unwilling to look away from her for a single moment. I assumed Mayte's Blood did the same, but I didn't wait for them. Surprisingly hot water inched up my calves, knees, and thighs as I went to my queen. A splash told me Eztli and Tepeyollotl weren't far behind.

Shara turned partially toward me, slipping her arm around my waist and lifting her mouth to mine. I kissed her, opening my mouth to her tongue. She touched my fangs and made an eager sound deep in her throat. "You hunger, my alpha. Please. Feed."

"I'm fine, my queen. I can feed later."

She pushed against me hard enough that I sat back on one of the boulders that ringed the pool as a natural boundary. Moving between my thighs, she slung her hair back over her shoulder and curved her throat in offering to me. I should have waited. I should have ensured her pleasure first. But I had waited while she fed others tonight, and now that she offered, I couldn't find it in myself to wait another second. I slid one hand beneath her heavy hair to cradle her nape and wrapped my other arm around her, supporting her back as I sank my fangs into her throat. Her blood surged into me, shooting straight to my head like a massive shot of whiskey. I groaned, my senses flooded with power. Her blood sparked a supernova inside me. My rock troll swelled, drumming fists against my ribcage, making me groan. Yes, it hurt. My own power threatened to tear through my control. But it was a good hurt. I loved that she could move me so easily. With a simple caress, she could make me crazy. Drive me wild with need. Set my soul on fire with lust.

I lifted her astride my hips and she took my cock inside her. I felt a moment of regret. This wasn't how I envisioned her night with her queen going. Not with her alpha immediately fucking her, too hard, too fast, out of control. I tried to pull back some semblance of control but she tightened her thighs around me. :Don't even think about it. I want you wild and out of control tonight. Please. I don't want to be in charge right now. I want you to take me hard and fast. Without thought. Without holding anything back. Exactly as you want.:

I fisted my hand in her hair and tugged her head back, straining her throat beneath my mouth. :Is this too much?:

She ground her hips against me, desire rising in our bonds like a rising tide. :Never.:

Something broke inside me. My control snapped, freed by her words. I had made love to my queen many times. I'd fucked her in a multitude of ways with all of her Blood.

But since our very first night together, I'd never fucked her by myself.

Even that night, Daire had stood guard. He'd had the first taste of her desire. He'd given her pleasure first.

Tonight, I would give her pleasure first. Alone. I would hoard her pleasure and her sighs and yes, especially, her screams. They were all mine. She was mine. My queen.

She cried out, her pleasure ringing like sweet music in the night. I pulled her harder against me, not thrusting but giving her every inch I could push into her. Filling her as deeply as I could go. Shuddering, she sagged against me. I licked my puncture marks and then lifted her up off me, high in my arms, and buried my face between her thighs.

I sank my tongue deep between her folds and drank her cream as eagerly as I'd taken her blood. Nothing compared to my queen’s desire mixed with her blood. Absolutely nothing. I could feast between her thighs for hours and never drink my fill. She clutched my shoulders, her head falling back, giving herself over to me. Trusting me to hold her and keep her from falling. My queen. My goddess. Letting me do as I would with her body, simply because she loved me.

Fuck, it was the most powerful and wondrous gift she'd ever given me. That she'd trust me enough to let me take control, when she had enough power to destroy not only me but this entire ranch for miles in all directions.

I'd forgotten about the rest of our party, until Mayte's hands slid over my queen's body while I licked her. Mayte stood behind her, giving Shara something to lean against. I lifted her thighs up around my shoulders, my hands supporting her buttocks. I pressed tiny bites along her pussy, making sure she felt my fangs but not penetrating her skin, while Mayte stroked her. Slowly, her hands smoothing Shara's throat and shoulders, her fingers gliding over Shara's breasts. Stroking down her sides and stomach, kneading her thighs while she kissed Shara's neck.

"Please," Shara whispered. "Bite me again."

"Are you sure? I don't want to take too much, my queen."

Shara half groaned, half laughed. "You barely took any earlier. You won't weaken me. But I want to feel your pleasure flooding our bonds at the same time."

Mayte sank her fangs into my queen and Shara quivered against me, a fresh surge of cream flooding my mouth. I drank her down eagerly, just as the other queen took her blood. I suddenly envisioned her Blood coming to feed from her, one after another, while I fed from her pussy like this.

:Yes. But not tonight. This night is for you alone:

I wasn't sure which of Mayte's Blood took her, but her moans filled the night. She squeezed Shara's breasts, rolling her nipples in her fingers. Gasping, she lifted her mouth, my queen's blood on her lips. She rocked against Shara, which rocked her hips against my face. In moments, I felt her desire cresting again, her need humming through her body. A need my mouth alone would not be able to satisfy.

Mayte cried out her pleasure, her Blood's deep grunt of satisfaction pushing her higher. Which only increased Shara's need. She twisted in Mayte’s arms, trying to get off my shoulders and get my dick back inside her.

Letting Shara’s thighs slide off my shoulders, I turned her around so she faced the other woman. My queen pressed her lips to Mayte's as I stood. I lifted Shara enough to push into her from behind. She hugged her thighs around Mayte's waist and locked her hand behind Mayte's head, her fingers tangled in her hair. When her other Blood moved behind her, she moaned against Shara's mouth.

Tepeyollotl stood with me, eye to eye, toe to toe, our two queens pressed between us. We were nearly the same height. Nearly the same build. And yes, fuck him, he was slightly taller and bigger than me, but he was a god, after all. An unspoken dare hovered between us. Who would break first? Who would come first? I had an unfair advantage and I knew it. My queen's bite would seal the winner of this challenge.

In our arms, our queens clung to each other, stroking and kissing as we moved inside them.

We fucked our queens in a hot mineral spring in a secret grotto, but they held the power. They commanded our hearts to beat. They gave us their blood and magic to sustain us. They drove us, their desire a burning urge that seared my skin and demanded every ounce of strength and control I could give her.

Shara sank her fangs into Mayte's throat and she screamed, a sweet, high sound that rang like a bell in the night. Her Blood's face tightened, muscles standing out in stark detail beneath his skin. He tried to fight back his climax, but his queen's pleasure rolled over him and pushed him over the edge while my queen fed.

Shara drank Mayte's pleasure from her blood, wallowing in rose petals and silk, a luxurious combination that went straight to her head. Tightening on me, Shara groaned, her mouth locked to the other woman's throat.

I squeezed her hips, pulling her hard against me as I thrust, harder, losing my careful rhythm. I tried to slow down, tried to hold back. I'd tasted my queen's desire, so when I came, I'd likely be done for the night. I didn't want to end her pleasure. Not so quickly.

:Please.:

My determination to last cracked and splintered. My lust broke free and tore through me, casting aside my usual chains of steady control. I sank my fangs into her throat and spewed like a volcano. I roared with release, spurt after spurt tearing through me. I emptied myself into her so thoroughly that my knees quivered and I sat down hard on the boulder. At least it caught me so my head didn't go under the water.

Shara turned in my arms and nestled beneath my chin. Tepeyollotl dropped beside me, his breathing still a deep wheeze as he tried to recover. On his lap, Mayte draped an arm around my queen's shoulders.

Eztli had recovered enough to laugh, though breathlessly. "That was... incredible."

"Agreed," Tepeyollotl said, even though his chest still heaved for air. "We may have to ask Maxtla to bring a car down and pick us up."

Mayte laughed softly. "Your pride would never allow such a thing and you know it."

"I don't know, my heart. Watching you with our queen took our lovemaking to all new heights."

I agreed, though my lungs burned too much to try and talk yet.

"Perhaps you could stay with us well past the new year," Mayte suggested, twirling a lock of Shara's hair around her fingers.

She slid her palm up and down my back, her fingers strumming my spine. And yes, miracle of miracles, my dick stirred again. "I would love to, but I have a great deal to do at home. We just established my nest and we're renovating the house. Plus I need to make some plans."

"For Skye?" Mayte asked softly.

"Yes."

Sudden fear tore through our bonds so viciously that I almost shifted to the rock troll. Shara's other Blood surged toward us, tearing through the underbrush. Daire's warcat leaped down from the top of the canyon to land beside us. Nevarre cawed from a tree. Ezra roared, Guillaume reared and screamed a challenge into the night, Leviathan exploded into the air, his breath pluming smoke into the night sky. Xin's silver wolf appeared at the edge of the pool, wavering like a ghost for a moment, and then he disappeared once more.

But that fear wasn't our queen's.

It was Mayte's, though we felt it through our queen's bond.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, blinking back tears. "I've worsened your situation, haven't I? Now Skye will come gunning for you with everything she's got."

Shara shrugged, a smile tugging at her lips. "She was already gunning for me. Now I know you'll be safe."

"But what about you? Who'll protect you?"

"Me." That single word crashed out of my throat like a thousand-pound boulder.

Shara's other Blood all declared the same in her bonds. :And me.:

Her eyes burned with tears, but her heart soared as high as Mehen flew above us. "And I'll protect us all."

Mayte threaded her fingers with Shara's, her voice hesitant. "Why are you willing to risk yourself to protect us? To protect me, and Xochitl? You barely even know us."

Shara lifted their clasped hands to her mouth and kissed each of Mayte's fingertips. "What this queen takes, she loves, and she keeps safe for all time."

* * *

Shara’s story continues with the next book, . An excerpt isn’t ready to share yet, but if you’d like to chat about these books and get sneak peeks as soon as they’re available, join on Facebook, or sign up for Joely’s to receive the latest updates.